Mickey Weir: Hibs have got the winning feeling again but this needs to be just the start

Hibs have got the winning feeling again. It’s the best feeling there is in football.
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It can carry you a long way. That feeling is now reverberating around the club and it's great for the supporters who've had to put up with a lot these past 18 months.

Hibs have beaten the teams they've needed to beat. That's what you need to do if you're going to be up the right end of the table consistently and challenging for European places.

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The key thing now is to keep it going. We've got Livingston away at the weekend and that's a massive game. Win that and they're potentially as little as two points behind Hearts and in a really good position to make a go of it as we come down towards the end of the season.

Will Fish celebrates with his Hibs team-mates after opening the scoring in the recent win over Kilmarnock. Picture: SNSWill Fish celebrates with his Hibs team-mates after opening the scoring in the recent win over Kilmarnock. Picture: SNS
Will Fish celebrates with his Hibs team-mates after opening the scoring in the recent win over Kilmarnock. Picture: SNS

The players brought in during the January transfer window have certainly injected a bit of freshness. They've settled in well.

Playing with the same personnel consistently has really helped the defence as we've finally started keeping clean sheets consistently. Will Fish has really come on to a game. As I said all along when I spoke to friends about him, you don't play for Manchester United if you don't have something about you. To be at such a big club you must have talent and quite a bit of potential.

When he had that performance against Hearts in the first derby this year he was playing for the first time in months, in a position that doesn't play to his strengths, and in such a pressurised atmosphere. It was a really difficult task for him. He didn't rise to it but, to be fair to him, he's bounced back very well, which shows a lot of mental toughness.

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He's now found his feet in the team and has built up a good partnership with Paul Hanlon. Getting that unit settled has been really important.

There was a real fear with this team when Ryan Porteous was sold. We were struggling to keep clean sheets and to get a settled back-line. And you just thought with his experience that they'd toil to get that solid foundation, but to be fair to them they've managed to do it surprisingly quickly. It's great credit to the players.

Jimmy Jeggo has emerged as the stopper we've missed in the centre of the park for at least 18 months now. He's someone who has the experience that this team has been crying out for. That's enabled him to come right into the team and hit the ground running. CJ Egan-Riley looks decent as well.

I still think this team needs a couple of more options for central midfielders who can get into the box and create or score goals. There's still too many defensive midfielders for me in the squad.

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There will be greater challenges for Jeggo and the rest of the team. Because, as I've said, the teams we've been playing against and beating are those we should be expecting to do so. Harder tests are on their way.

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